title: The demand for Medicare supplemental insurance benefits: the role of attitudes toward medical care and risk.
abstract: This paper uses data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey to analyze the role that attitudes toward medical care and risk play in Medicare beneficiaries' demand for supplemental insurance. We investigate the factors affecting the demand for any supplemental insurance as well as specific Medigap benefits, such as coverage for Medicare's gaps in hospital and physician services, skilled nursing facility care, and prescription drug purchases. Our results indicate that attitudes significantly influence beneficiaries' decisions to purchase supplemental insurance and specific benefits with effects that are comparable in magnitude to those of self-reported health measures, education, and asset income.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cost and Financing Studies, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vistnes
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Banthin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017047:Cost Sharing; D003657:Decision Making; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits; D017054:Insurance, Medigap / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006278:Medicare / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics*; D012309:Risk-Taking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States